Introspection
by soulsborne123
Summary: A year and a half of separation gives Naru and Mai some time to reconsider their relationship. A romance between them seems impossible and one-sided, but will Naru finally beat his ego and admit his love for her? Can he make Mai accept him as he is, rather than have her chase the image of Gene in himself? (Rated M for later).
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Mai- _tsche._ "

Kazuya Shibuya exhaled sharply out of annoyance as a faint chuckle floated from Lin's office next door. He mentally cursed himself for calling out her name for the fourth time that day (yesterday he had done it seven times). It had only been the second day since she took off for her week-long school trip to Okinawa and he was finally forced to admit to himself that he found her absence in the office absolutely unbearable. His mood had been vacillating between depression and irascibility.

" _It's only because I suddenly find myself not being served tea whenever I want._ " He hung his head and pinched the nook of his nose. No, he was doing it again. He was convincing himself of a lie, all in an attempt to mask that gnawing feeling inside of him. He sighed and walked towards the window, raised his arm up above his head and rested it on the pane to support his weight as he leaned against it. He brought his forehead to his clenched knuckles and stared blankly at the people passing by in the streets below.

Contrary to the way he usually presented himself to others, he actually wasn't completely inept at these things. He understood it was natural for most people to fall in love and knew the signs associated with being in love, but he had never considered it would apply to him. He had never seen himself as a typical person. He had always been special, experiencing many things completely outside the realm of what a typical person might go through in their lifetime, making it difficult for him to concede the fact that he, special as he was, _may_ be developing feelings for his younger assistant.

He winced. He was doing it again!

'May be' was a severe understatement. His mind had already been consumed by her, loathe as he was to admit it. When exactly did he begin to see her this way?

He thought back to their very first meeting. He got the idea that her first impression of him was unfavorable. After playing at being nice and introducing himself, he was surprised that he was unable to elicit any response from her, which stung his pride (just a tiny bit) and garnered his curiosity. The two other girls acted just like how others normally would, but Mai was immediately weary of him as if she could easily see behind his facade. At every interaction where he pretended to be a normal human being, he always felt her eyes intensely watching him and she spoke to him almost rudely. Never one to turn away from any challenge, he felt compelled to keep her close to him so that he may study her a bit more. It was lucky that she was a klutz and ended up injuring Lin that fateful day-well perhaps that wasn't a very nice thing to say, but it _was_ Lin's fault for being careless. At any rate, he was able to use that as an excuse to keep her close until he could figure out what made her tick.

After working with her after a few days he began to feel smug at the fact that he can just as easily read her as well. According to his observations, Mai was a kind person who can strongly empathize with people. She was also very volatile. She was quick to anger at the sight of injustice, but she was just as easy to appease with the littlest thing. She was weak in academics, especially English, and was very easy to tease due to her feelings of inadequacy. He derived much pleasure in teasing her, in seeing her flushed face and hearing her pouty, "Well I'm _sorry_ for being so dumb!" retorts. He found it easy to speak with her and at first he attributed it to his superiority, but in the end he realized he actually found some enjoyment in their conversations and little arguments (although he would rather listen and pretend to not care than say something). Before he knew it his feelings for her had grown, but he didn't even know how to express it; he didn't even know if he _wanted_ to acknowledge it. With his rotten, narcissistic personality (of which he was quite aware of), he was sure no one could possible fall in love with him anyway.

" _Which turned out to be quite true, afterall_ ," he thought with a slight grimace. Suddenly, memories of that day flooded back.

 _-000-_

It was nearing the end of his stay in Japan. Finding Gene's body was only a matter of hours now. He had just been taking a walk on his own, contemplating how impressive it was of Bou-san to piece together many little clues about his life. He didn't mind it at all at first. He actually encouraged him, in his own way, to explain his reasoning and conclusions, but as Bou-san got closer and closer to the truth he began to feel stifled. Letting the group figure out the secrets he's kept from them for so long was forcing him to face their inevitable goodbyes. Revealing all his secrets doesn't matter now since he was leaving anyway. Eventually he realized that talking like this made him feel quite lonely and he stepped out for some air. After walking around for half an hour, he decided to head back to the hut when he saw a half-dazed Mai leaning against a tree. He thought briefly about what he'd like to say to her before he left but his body had already moved on its own and before he knew it, he was in front of her.

She had been looking frantically around and looked very confused. When he asked her what was wrong, she began insisting she had just been talking to him moments before. It confused him when his line of questioning led her to confess the fact that she had been dreaming about him all this time (turning a dangerously bright shade of red in the meantime), but it didn't take him long to piece together that she had probably been in contact with Gene all along. After clarifying the situation to her, her demeanor saddened as she realized that the smiling, kind Naru in her dream was not even a dream version of her boss, but was actually a completely different person. The reality is that Naru would never smile like that. In spite of all this she ended up blurting, in the typical headstrong Mai fashion, that she had feelings for him.

"I like you," she said.

Those words, said right after their recent discovery of the dream Naru's identity, pierced him painfully. To rebuff her he retaliated by saying he didn't like it when people cared about him, but Mai unknowingly delivered a more severe blow, twisting the knife through his heart when she insisted that she had liked him in a special way. He truly deserved this.

With a sad smile he looked at her and finally asked, "Me? Or Gene?" knowing full well what she would say. As she erupted into tears and lamented the fact that she repeatedly referred to Gene as Naru and how she never had the chance to properly thank him before parting forever, Naru looked away. He didn't know what to do in these situations. What was a good thing to say?

"You'll probably see him again." That was the best thing he could think about even though he wasn't sure if he even believed it himself. Thankfully it worked and they were able to crack a joke about it, though at Mai's expense.

"I would always feel so happy in my dreams because Naru was always smiling there. I thought maybe that one day I will get to see it in real life even though I knew that there was no way that would happen. Now that I know the truth that you were two completely different people, I feel happy-sorry. Sorry for being mean."

"It's okay, I'm used to it. Two identical people-same face, same power. One has a good personality the other one has a bad personality." He paused before continuing, "Which would you choose?"

Without skipping a beat, Mai had replied, "The one with the good personality."

Naru felt the air drain from his lungs and he found himself unable to look her in the eyes. She was truly in love with Gene after all. Everyone always fell in love with Gene but he never really cared like this before. Romantic confessions were an inconvenience to him back then and having them realize that Gene was the better twin in that regard worked out for him the best. But somehow, right now was different. His chest ached. "Exactly," was all the could muster up to say.

A couple of days later after finding Gene's body, Naru and Lin left for England with plans to stay indefinitely. In their absence, Madoka took over as acting director of the SPR office and would always call him on a monthly basis with a complete report, updating him here and there about how the others were doing (useless things like when Matsuzaki and Takigawa started dating, or how John had eventually shed his Kansai dialect). As time went on and he got busy with things, he asked her to keep their correspondence shorter and less frequent. Eventually she only phoned when interesting cases came up or when she needed his opinion on something. He tried to not dwell too much on the life he left behind, preoccupied as he was with other pressing matters, and had made up his mind that there was no need for him to go back since he had closed that chapter in his life.

He spent the entire year focusing on writing an ambitious paper: a compendium of legitimate paranormal activities in Japan with in-depth analysis on proper methodologies and exposition on applying logical reasoning based on gathered evidence. He even cited some of his very own experiences. It was easy for him to lose himself over his work and soon he even began to cease much contact with Lin and his parents. Afraid for his health, both Martin and Luella Davis suddenly sat down with him at dinner and recommended for him to travel back to Japan, citing his need for a change of pace and their company's lack of active researchers in that section of the world. This surprised him, but although he saw it as an inconvenience to himself, he simply nodded in affirmation without so much of a complaint. He could never turn down a request from his adoptive parents. In two months he managed to straighten his affairs all related to his work, while Lin took care of their personal necessities and made the final preparations for their stay abroad.

The entire group was there to greet them in the SPR office upon their arrival and to Naru's horror, saw an alarming amount of balloons and confetti littered all over the floor (most likely Takigawa and Madoka's idea of how a Western party should look like), and multiple banners hanging on the walls in a nauseating juxtaposition of colors and sizes with the words, "Welcome back! We missed you!". Somewhere off to the side, Yasuhara and Mai started blowing on their party tooters and Matsuzaki-san and John popped more confetti. He just stared at them. "What do you people think you're doing at somebody's office? Isn't it a workday? This is no time for nonsense."

Madoka laughed. "Professor Davis let me know that starting tomorrow you can take over the office again, but today I am still technically the boss, so yay we still get to party!" There was no arguing against that logic.

They immediately assaulted him with unending questions but he was too tired and uninterested to reply so he made his way toward the sofa, leaving Lin by the doorway to answer everything himself. While everyone was partaking in their festivities and being incessantly loud and obnoxious, Naru quietly observed how everyone except Bou-san seemed to have aged during their time apart. The monk actually still kept his long hair, which most likely meant that he was still very active with his band. John had lost the softness to his face and sure enough, no hint of a Kansai dialect was present in his speech. Hara-san's height was exactly the same, although she was much shorter to him now than she used to (he had grown an inch taller, placing him at six feet tall). From the looks of it, she had finally stopped wearing her kimono everywhere and was currently wearing a modest dress. Matsuzaki-san had cut her hair a bit shorter and seemed to be a bit more mellow now, although occasionally Bou-san would tease her and immediately her rambunctious personality would resurface. Yasuhara had also gotten taller, his face narrower, and had traded his glasses for contact lenses, but otherwise he still exuded the same 'Echigoya' aura about him.

And then there was Mai. He had unconsciously averted her eyes when he entered, but he figured she was bound to come bother him soon anyway. Sure enough when he looked up, although she had been listening intently to Lin's answers, she turned to face him and immediately beamed him a smile before making her way towards him. She had definitely transformed the most.

Her short, auburn hair was now waist-length, loosely tied and draped over her shoulder. Her clothes, a simple white-laced tunic and jeans, were unlike the casual, tomboyish clothes she used to wear back then. Now she seemed more mature, more demure in the way she carried herself. She sat down next to him.

"Welcome back, Naru. It's really been a while."

"You seemed to have grown up in the time I've been gone."

Mai laughed. "What is this, you sound like an old man! Of course I'd grow-I had just turned seventeen and was still developing when you left! You have grown too, you know. By a few centimeters it seems." Finding her enthusiasm was still the same as ever made him smile, which in turn made her blush. He checked himself as he realized that the gesture probably reminded her of Gene.

"Well since you're back, will we be taking intense cases as an entire group again? Madoka had her hands full when she was acting director. It seemed like she was also doing some sort of research on her own so it felt like we were taking the lighter cases."

"You know that I only take cases which interest me so naturally they should be the more difficult ones. As to whether the others will be joining, that will be on a case by case basis and if they are willing to accept consultations."

Mai playfully tapped him on the shoulder. "What are you talking about? Of course they would! Can't you just feel their excitement? They would jump at the opportunity to solve cases together again!"

He shrugged. Then, he turned to her and asked seriously, "Would you be interested in joining again? I am in need of an assistant and it would be best if it was someone who was already familiar with the equipment."

Her grin widened as she chirped, "I wasn't aware I've been fired as your assistant that you'd need to ask me to be one again. Although Madoka was a much nicer and friendlier boss, you _were_ the one who initially hired me so I have a bit of bias to be loyal to you."

Naru smirked. "Good."

 _-000-_

So where was this assistant now? Apart from his repulsive sentiment of _missing_ the damn woman, it was highly disruptive to his routine to not have a proper assistant who would bring him good tea. Didn't she know how difficult it was for him to suddenly go cold-turkey* when he first left for England? And now after having her around for two whole months since his return she suddenly goes on a week-long leave, forcing him to go through another withdrawal. He tried ordering Lin to prepare some, but Lin's tastes tended towards milder flavors. Naru liked them bold, almost bitter, just the way Mai did it (who probably intentionally did it that way initially as a jab at his unpleasant personality, but joke's on her she actually got it right).

"Lin. Tea!" he barked, severely irritated now. "Steep it longer than you think it should be steeped." Five more days. Just five more days until she gets back and then he will no longer allow her to take any unnecessary vacations.

* * *

 _Cold-turkey* means stopping suddenly (just in case there are non-native speakers who aren't familiar with the slang._

 _Notes: More to come. My intention is to write a full blown light novel that will eventually hit M-rating, so fingers crossed I get to update on a timely basis. Please review to help me keep going and many thanks for taking the time to read this chapter._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Mai bent down and examined the collection of small trinkets in front of her, softly murmuring in approval every time she came across something cute. Michiru was the one who insisted they stop by the small shop and she immediately went towards a stack of plush stuffed toys and heavily contemplated which one she should buy, leaving Mai and Keiko to peruse around casually by themselves. A rack of cellphone charms caught Mai's eyes and she excitedly skipped toward it, exclaiming, "Oh, I see something interesting!" She navigated her way towards her target, doing her best to avoid stumbling over rows of display tables and tall glass cases featuring delicate porcelain figurines, retro video game platforms, books, and other miscellaneous small things. Mai thought fleetingly about how easy it would be to get away with stealing something here, but quickly recoiled at her naughtiness. Upon reaching the glass counter where the rack of tiny cellphone charms sat on display, she ran her fingers through the tiny animal figurines hanging at the end of the strings and smiled, then suddenly pouted and turned toward her friends, lamenting, "I can't believe today is our last day here! It's been so much fun."

Knowing that Keiko was slightly claustrophobic, Mai wasn't surprised to find her outside, standing in front of the counter opposite to where she stood. Her friend nodded and replied, "Last year was the first time you've been able to come with us on school trips. It was thanks to your part-time job that you were able to pay the fee, right?"

"Yeah, well I'm very sad that it's our last day here, but I guess I'm also looking very forward to getting back home."

"Is it because you're looking forward to seeing Yasuhara-kun again?"

"No, maybe she's missing Shibuya-san!"

Mai rolled her eyes and playfully admonished her friends. "Michiru! Keiko! Geez, can you guys quit with the teasing already?"

" _Although it's not like they were completely wrong_ ", she thought to herself. It wasn't that she missed _them_ specifically, but rather the whole group and the job. After two months of taking on new cases just like they used to, her SPR work had again become a huge part of her routine. It was truly a job she looked forward to doing everyday and she wasn't sure if Keiko and Michiru could understand as they've never had the need to take on part-time jobs before. She went back to fiddling with the charms, lost in thought. Suddenly she found her hand hovered over a mini figurine of a black, angry looking chibi fox, causing her to snort out loud. She chuckled to herself and took two copies, one for herself and one for him-if he would ever accept any gifts. Still, it was too funny to pass up and she figured she should try to give it to him as an _omiyage*_ anyway. It was tradition after all.

"Keiko, Michiru, can we also stop by the sweets shop? I still have to buy omiyage for the others back home!"

By ten in the morning the sun had reached a high point and with very little clouds to obscure its rays, illuminated the pale blue sky blindingly bright. The three friends spent their last two hours in Okinawa hopping from store to store before they had to report back to their designated meeting location. They arrived a few minutes early so they sat around, idly chit chatting before getting interrupted by their teacher's booming voice, announcing that the class representatives would now be taking roll call to ensure no one gets left behind before they take the bus ride back to the airport. Although everything had gone smoothly, Mai still felt a bit harried. It wasn't until she was seated in her own chair with nothing but the constant hum of the plane engine that she took the chance to rest up.

She doesn't do it as often now, but then and again she would find herself helplessly wishing to meet Gene in her dreams, which would always lead to her waking up disappointed and depressed. She dreamt, but there was never any sign of Gene, not since their final farewell (if you could call it that) on day they found his body. Her mood didn't improve throughout the rest of the journey, even up to the point where the bus arrived back in school grounds. She was absent minded even during the final roll call and could barely even remember saying goodbye to Keiko and Michiru when they parted.

As she left the school gates she sighed and looked at the orange sky. The sun had begun to set, sitting just above the horizon. "It's getting late now. I wonder if the others are still in the office?" Her watch said it was currently 5:30 pm. She took a deep breath and decided that seeing everyone back in the office might lighten her mood.

"Maybe I can still catch them and if not, then I can at least drop off these gifts so I don't forget them at home." She clutched her luggage and made her way to the office.

The door was locked when she got there. She reached in her bag and pulled out the spare key Naru had given her a while back and opened the door, mumbling a soft, "I'm back..." But the office was empty and the door to Naru and Lin's office were closed. She entered and made her way towards the kitchenette, leaving her luggage by the sofa. "I guess everyone had already left after all." She took her gift bags and neatly arranged all the sweets on the counter, smiling to herself as she imagined Bou-san and Yasuhara getting needlessly excited over them.

"-What do you think you're doing here at this time?"

Mai jumped and ended up knocking some items off the counter as she whirled around fast enough to make her momentarily dizzy. She hadn't even heard his footsteps. Naru was watching her with an inscrutable face, with a look akin to something like bewilderment, surprise-and what Mai imagined to be some sort of muted joy? But that was impossible and it made her question whether she was in some kind of trouble. "Naru! I had no idea you were still around. Where did you come from?"

He didn't answer right away. He closed the door behind him and moved in his own pace, smoothly and without unnecessary frill as he leaned toward the coffee table and deposited the letters he was holding in his hand. "I went to pick up our mail since no one else was able to do it."

"Ah, sorry..."

She saw him look at her sideways-his trademark move which never failed to cause her heart to flutter-and said, "I had wondered why the door was ajar when I got back since I would never make such a stupid mistake as to leave it open." Mai cringed here because she knew he was pointedly reminding her of both times she did it, implying her stupidity. She would have said something in an angry retort but was cut off when he continued, "Why are you here? Didn't you say you'd be back to work on Monday?"

"Yes, I just got back and went straight here. I figured I might be able to catch everyone before they left for today so I can give them their gifts, but I see that it's dead here." Mai picked up the things off the floor and held them up to him, asking, "Since you're here, would you like to try some of these?"

She blinked as Naru paused to consider before approaching her and sitting down by their kitchenette table . "Prepare some tea to go along with it."

"Okay." She reached behind her ears and gathered her hair in a messy bun. Now that it was long, it tended to get in her way and she had a mind to get it cut but never really had the time to. With her expert hands, the tea preparation was finished within ten minutes and she placed Naru's steaming cup in front of him. She settled on the chair across and handed him the platter of sweet sugar cookies.

"Where is Lin-san, by the way? Isn't he still here?" she asked.

Naru took a sip of his tea and spoke tersely, "He had been coughing all day so I told him to go home early because it was irritating."

She laughed sheepishly at this but found it amusing to imagine how the scenario played out. "Poor Lin-san..."

They munched in silence for a few minutes while Mai tried to think of topics to talk about, remembering Madoka's words back then telling her that Naru wasn't particularly secretive and would most likely answer questions if asked. It wasn't everyday she gets to spend some one-on-one time with Naru like this. This was a big chance! What personal things could she start pecking him about? But before she could say anything, Naru had broken the silence.

"How was your trip?"

Mai almost choked on her tea and looked at him in bewilderment. "M-my trip? You're actually asking me about how my trip was? Aren't you being particularly social?"

He stared at her through his long lashes, practically rolling his eyes, and snapped, "If you'd prefer not to answer that is your prerogative and I will keep in mind for the future never to ask again."

She put her tea down and waved her hands frantically in front of her. "No, no, no! I was just teasing, geez. Lighten up!" She sighed and took her hair down, letting it fall loosely around her shoulders. "I was just surprised, is all. Anyway it was fun, really fun. I'm really glad I was able to go this year as well, especially since it's our last year together as a class. I think school trips really force students to make stronger bonds with each other." Then, suddenly hit with an idea, she clasped her hands together and exclaimed, "We should go on a trip! Everyone! It will make us stronger as a team, surely!"

The finality in Naru's voice as he said 'no' made Mai reconsider bringing it up again, even as a joke.

"Ah well, I tried." She reached for the gift bag to look for other sweet variety she could offer Naru and felt something small and hard at the bottom of the bag. She pulled it out and found herself clutching the forgotten cellphone charm. "Oh yeah, Naru, look! It reminds me of you, see?" She held the charm out to him. It was an image of a tiny black fox, it's puffy tail curled around its body similar to what an angry cat does when it wants to be left alone, its eyes stern and cartoon-ish looking. She felt herself stiffen up a bit as his hands brushed against hers lightly when he grabbed it to have a closer look.

"I fail to see how."

"It definitely screams 'Naru'." She bit her lip and continued shyly, "I saw it while I was on the trip and I immediately thought of you. It's my gift to you, if you'd like to accept it." To her immense surprise, Naru pulled out his cellphone and deftly installed the silly trinket. It looked out of place; his flip phone was sleek and black, and when he held it in his hands looked entirely business like, making the trinket stick out like a sore thumb. He paused and looked at her uncertainly when he realized she was gawking at him.

"Isn't this how you're supposed to use them? It's a cellphone charm, isn't it?"

"No, no-yes, I mean, yes. It's a cellphone charm. I was just surprised that you decided to use it. I thought you were going to just refuse it and say it's stupid or something."

"It is stupid, but I'm not an ingrate and will gladly receive gifts that are given to me." As he spoke this, Mai could have sworn she saw a slight smirk.

She pulled out her simple smart phone in a bright blue silicon case. It was one of her most cherished material possession that she was able to purchase with the help of her part-time money. At the end of it was the same black fox charm. "Now we match!" Naru stared at her so intensely for a few seconds that she felt the need to ask him what was wrong. Finally he answered, with a slight reluctance in his voice.

"Give me your cellphone number-in the case you file for leave again in the future. The past few days have been really troublesome since you had moved some things around. Both Lin and I had trouble finding where you put old files."

Mai hit her palm with her fist and mumbled apologetically, "Oh yes... I should have left a note somewhere." Then, when she realized that Naru was quite serious about exchanging cellphone numbers, she set her infrared on and held her phone up to his. In a few seconds, their phone numbers were exchanged.

Naru opened his phone and told her that he will send a message to confirm. In a few seconds, her phone vibrated and the message showed up. It simply said, "More tea." They exchange glances and she laughed out loud, while a soft smile played on his lips. She stood up to heat some more water and asked offhandedly, "Did we end up taking any case while I was gone?"

"Yes. A man came in yesterday for a quick consultation and based on his promising prologue, I've tentatively agreed to take the case. However my decision won't be finalized until he's given us the details on Monday."

"Why didn't you schedule him to come in tomorrow? Why wait until three days from now?" Mai asked. She wasn't sure if she should ask permission for school leave. What if the day ends up being a bust and they turn the case down? But it had to be an interesting case-Naru never would have agreed, even tentatively, if it wasn't worthwhile so she _had_ to be here to hear the details for herself.

"It was the client's wish to come in on Monday. I assume he will be engaged in another business elsewhere for tomorrow." As if reading her thoughts he continued, "I might need you here in the office that day to take notes, so requesting that day off from school is best. I don't know if Lin will be healthy enough to do it by then." Mai nodded and mentally added it to her to-do list. "Also I've decided to close the office for tomorrow since Lin would be out sick and I had no idea you'd have been back by then."

She hummed an affirmative and finished preparing the second serving of tea. After handing Naru his steaming cup, she re-settled in her previous spot once again. "By the way" she said nonchalantly, "are you and Lin-san still staying at a hotel again? Are you staying here on a temporary basis?" In actuality, her gut wrenched at the idea of having to part ways again.

"No, I am planning on staying longer so I have settled in my own apartment."

She was very surprised-and quite relieved. "Oh that's wonderful! Then Lin-san is also staying with you?"

"No. He's got his own place, although he still lives nearby."

"You live by yourself? Around where did you settle?"

"At an apartment around here, about fifteen minutes away by walking."

Mai's eyes widened in shock. Living in the middle of Shibuya was definitely expensive. The man must really be doing well for himself! Then squinting her eyes with concern, she asked, "So... how do you eat? You don't look like someone who'd cook..."

"I don't cook. Microwave dinners or take-outs are my usual meals."

"That's horrible! You should take more care of your body or else you'll get fat eating those unhealthy foods!" When he merely shrugged, Mai rolled her eyes and shook her head before taking another sip of her tea. "Still, I wonder what kind of place Naru stays in. I bet you chose a really depressing place with black walls and black curtains, no pictures or decorations anywhere."

Naru went still and appeared to be having some sort of internal monologue. Just when she thought their conversation had reached a sudden abrupt end, he replied curtly, "Would you like to come by today and see the place?"

Mai blinked rapidly and felt her ears turning red as she tried to process what she had just heard. He was looking at her waiting for a reply so she definitely didn't imagine him saying that. She managed to stammer out, "Y-yes, that would... be... yes. I would like to see? But is it... okay?"

If Naru had detected her embarrassment or understood how loaded his question might have seemed to an innocent young girl like her, he showed no hint of it. His voice was smooth and easy when he replied, "Okay. We'll also stop by the grocery store so we can prepare dinner. Of course, since I don't know how to cook you would have to do the honors. Surely living on your own all this time would have given you some housekeeping skills of some sort."

Mai had recovered from her stupor by this time. "Oh, so I'm being invited to be your cook tonight?"

"Since you brought up the fact, yes. In exchange of course, you get to eat for free."

She sighed. "Well I guess that's good enough for me."

They eventually left the office together. " _A weird feeling for sure_ ", Mai had thought to herself as she walked with her boss towards the nearest grocery store. As they entered through the automatic doors, he told her to pick out any ingredients she'd need for the dish she would be making and grabbed a basket. She repeatedly asked him if he had any requests, but he just shrugged and left it up to her to decide. Her inspiration came when she saw a nice cut of beef at the meat section and made up her mind to keep it simple by making _nikujaga_. She led him around and circled toward the vegetable section, picking up potatoes, carrots, and onions, then made their way towards the refrigerated area to get a pack of yam noodles as well, depositing all her items on the basket Naru was effortlessly carrying. She noticed that he was looking around with interest and would sometimes ask her what some of the items were used for, driving in the fact that the whole experience was very surreal. They must have seemed like they were a couple.

The funny feeling in her stomach didn't stop there. The sun had already set once they actually reached his apartment complex, but it was still a little bright out from the sunlight's refraction through the atmosphere. She had to mentally pinch herself to ask if this was real or just a very elaborate dream as they stood in front of his door, apartment 502 up on the fifth floor. She heard him fiddling with his keys and held her breath when he opened the door and made a motion with his head, encouraging her to come in.

"Pardon for the intrusion..." she mumbled softly as he turned on the light. She leaned on the wall and removed her shoes before stepping inside, then immediately looked around. It was in the Western style: fully carpeted floor, modernized kitchen, large windows, and hinged doors. He had a side door leading to a balcony overlooking the city and mused that his silky curtains were definitely not thick enough to block out the city's bright lights at night. His walls were plain white (not black as she had imagined) and bare. There were no decorations at all, no plants, no unnecessary clutter. The only thing there was a sofa, bookshelves with books that looked similar to the ones he had at the office, a laptop, and a _kotatsu*_. She raised her eyebrow.

"You've already brought out your kotatsu."

Naru walked past her and placed their grocery items on top of the kitchen counter. "That's been out since September. It serves as a coffee table." He started taking the items out. "Will you be using all of these?"

She sauntered up to him and nodded. "I don't see any apron I can use..."

"You know I don't cook so I don't have one."

"Oh, right." Mai tied her hair up again and took the potatoes from his hands and began washing them over the sink. "I'll need your help with the chopping, can I trust you with a knife at least?"

Naru didn't verbally answer but instead just reached over her, gently pushing her off the side as he reached for the knife and the cutting board. He placed it on the counter and rolled up his sleeves to begin chopping. Meanwhile, Mai collected the other ingredients and began her preparations.

It took an hour for them to finish preparing dinner. Mai laughed at seeing Naru looking tired and teased him for having such a poor stamina for cooking. He scowled at her but ended up helping her set up the dining table anyway and soon the two began their meal. Mai pursed her lips to the side as she scooped several potatoes to serve into both their plates, muttering, "Geez, you could have at least tried to cut them all up in the same sizes you know."

"Does that make a difference in the taste? If not, then there is no point. The potato is cut enough that we can eat it." Mai sighed. Naru was always going to have this no nonsense attitude and he was going to apply it to everything.

They ate in a comfortable silence, with Mai starting a majority of their small conversations about random topics. After they finished, she served up more tea and resumed talking about her trip to Okinawa. She couldn't tell if he was listening, but now and again he would grunt to show that he wasn't zoning out at least. When she had nothing else to say, she asked, "So were you able to learn anything about cooking today?"

"No."

"But I showed you and explained everything to you as I was doing it!"

He took a sip of his tea and gently put it down, a thought clearly forming in his mind. "One day of teaching won't make me a master."

Mai narrowed her eyes. "So what do you mean?"

He pursed his lips and tapped his fingers lightly on the table. Without looking her in the eye he replied, "If you would be willing to come home with me every evening, you can continue to teach me. Of course you will have complete control over the menu so you can pick out anything you'll need and I will pay for it, and in exchange, you get to eat free dinners everyday."

Her heart started palpitating and the joy she felt at this offer was difficult for her to conceal. Eventually she managed to mask her joy and replied, "Well... sure, of course I wouldn't mind teaching you... But I can't help but feel like I'm becoming a housemaid."

Naru let out an easy laugh, surprising Mai. He said to her sincerely, uncharacteristic of him, "I won't expect you to come in during the weekends of course, or if you're busy. Whatever schedule works for you. You are also free to refuse; I'm not ordering you to accept."

Well when he becomes all charming like this, who could refuse? "Well okay, I don't see why not! I can come Mondays to Saturdays, but I need Sundays off because I have plans then. Don't worry, you'll be capable of cooking in no time, Naru."

* * *

 _Notes: Omiyage* is a Japanese term for souvenirs given to friends and family after a trip. Kotatsu* is a heated table usually brought out in winter time. Again thank you for taking the time to read._


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Sorry for the confusion it may have caused, but I made a pretty big mistake. I do a shit ton of editing and it seems I'd forgotten to rewrite the parts that explain the timeline. I didn't realize it after re-reading so many times because I'd already established everything in my head. I've updated chapter 1 to make it clearer now, but to those of you who'd rather just move on, I will explain here. Naru and Lin left a few days after finding Gene's body, leaving SPR in Madoka's care. They stay in England for about a year while Naru works on a huge research project for himself (writing a compendium of ghost hunting methodologies). Martin and Luella realize that he's becoming too consumed with the project and recommends he goes back to Japan. Two months after the suggestion, Naru and Lin get back to Japan and they start SPR again. Two months later, Mai goes to Okinawa for her school trip. This makes Mai around 18 years old, while Naru is 19._

 _I hope that clarifies! Many thanks to the reviewer "Maria", who pointed it out to me!_

 **Chapter 3**

As he finished washing up the last bowl, Naru glanced up at the clock and sighed inaudibly. He turned the faucet off and began drying the pots and plates with the kitchen towel, gently placing them on the rack to his right to air dry some more overnight. Taking two pumps of whatever little was left of his hand soap, he rubbed his hands meticulously and dried them off with a different clean towel before making his way towards the sofa where Mai had ran off to ten minutes ago. He couldn't help but inwardly chuckle at her childishness as he recalled their small fight, if it could be called that.

Right after they had finished their dinner, Mai stood up and stacked their used plates and was about to head over to the sink when he swiftly took them off her delicate hands and teased, " _I'll do it. You are still a guest, after all, even if it's just you._ " As he had expected, this remark elicited a somewhat angry and embarrassed retort from her before she stomped away, muttering something about how he was such a jerk and there was no need for him to be mean to her that way. He hadn't heard a peep from her since then.

As he neared, he saw that she was curled up and dozing off completely in her usual way, her arm supporting her head as it rested on the sofa's armrest. It was always very difficult to rouse her during these times. He knelt down next to her and tried calling out her name, gently shaking her shoulder but to no avail. _"Of course she is tired. She's had no time to rest after traveling,"_ he thought to himself and watched a stray strand of hair fall across her serene face. He gently brushed it behind her ears and let his hand linger. A powerful urge suddenly gnawed at his chest and he felt himself leaning forward, closer and closer, before he snapped out of it and pulled back. How stupid was he again that he let himself get taken in by this girl?

He continued calling her name and shaking her by the shoulders; eventually his voice reached her and she woke up with a start and searched her surroundings, blinking in confusion. Naru allowed her some time to gather her wits before continuing, "You had dozed off while I was cleaning up. It's gotten very late."

She looked at the clock and groaned. "Ah... It's nine o'clock already? I should really get going..." Mai jumped up and stretched, her joints popping from staying in one position for too long and tried to stifle another yawn.

"You're tired from the trip. Are you sure you're able to travel in your state?"

"I'll be fine." She reached behind the sofa and grabbed her luggage (a huge backpack that was in danger of bursting out) then made her way toward the front door. As she put on her shoes she explained, "The train station is near the office so that's about twenty minutes away from here, then the train ride is another fifteen, and then the walk to my apartment is about... ten minutes or so. I'll be back home before midnight."

Without thinking, he had offered, "Why don't you just stay for the night?" The words lingered in the air uncomfortably for a few seconds, but neither he nor she was able to say something to ease the tension. He noticed that Mai was looking at him in a daze, looking very red and panicked. Her shoes were already on and her hand was already on the door handle, which she involuntarily gripped tightly.

"I-I couldn't possibly over stay! That would be troublesome to you..."

The extent of his stupidity dawned on him, but he fought to keep a straight face and managed to say evenly, "I understand. Naturally the offer would make you uncomfortable. I apologize."

She shook her head and exclaimed, "No, please! That's not... That wasn't the problem. I just didn't want to cause trouble for you. I'll be fine heading back on my own."

"Then let me at least walk you back."

She hesitated but eventually relented. "Okay, then to the train only..."

As Naru closed the door to his apartment and turned the keys, he was heavily internalizing the annoyance he felt toward himself for feeling disappointed, but he prided himself in having complete mastery over his emotions so Mai was none the wiser. They exited his building and walked side by side, with neither one saying a word for the entire ten minutes until they reached the grocery store they went to earlier. The office was only a little bit further. Suddenly Mai yelled out, "Oh no!" Naru looked over and saw her rummaging through her backpack and repeatedly patting her pockets, muttering, "Oh no, no."

"What's wrong?"

Mai took a deep breath and bit her lip. She turned to him slowly and with the biggest sheepish grin she could muster, told him, "I think I left my phone in your apartment. I had pulled it out to check my message while you were cleaning up..."

"You can come back to pick it up tomorrow since you're coming by anyway."

"Well," she drawled, "my train pass is there, so I won't be able to take the train this way." Naru closed his eyes, half annoyed. Really, why is she such a klutz and how, honestly, could he have been taken in by this girl? He just couldn't understand it.

He exhaled sharply, turned on his heels, and started walking back the way they came from. "Well there's no helping it. We're going back then." He heard Mai groan behind him before following his footsteps, defeated.

They were inside the apartment once again. Mai found her phone hidden in the gap between the couch and repeated her apologies but was cut short when she yawned. Feeling a bit impatient, Naru leaned back on the wall and all but ordered her to stay the night.

"E-Eh? But I can't..."

"I have a spare room. You have your luggage and therefore you have spare clothes and bathroom necessities. It's late and I don't feel up to stepping outside again. You will be coming by tomorrow anyway, so stay." He hadn't meant to make it sound so... commanding. Regretting losing his temper, he met her eyes and continued, "I'd rather not have you travel on your own this late at night; it's not safe."

He watched her as she slowly lowered her bag down and ponder over his offer. When she yawned once again, she laughed uncomfortably and resigned that she was tired after all and that maybe it was wise to listen to him. He only smirked at this and said, "Of course I'm right." Unable to fight back anymore, she went up to him and followed his lead as he walked further inside the spacious apartment, passing through the narrow hallway that separated the living room and kitchen from the bedrooms. Naru opened the door to the right and said, "You can stay in this spare room."

He felt Mai trying to look over his shoulder so he moved out of the way and gestured for her to step in. It was a decent sized room, about six-tatami mats, and although its walls were bare there was a comfortable looking bed and a work table. She looked at him questioningly. "Why do you have a prepared spare room? Wouldn't you usually just use this as a storage if you were living by yourself? Were you expecting someone to come live with you?"

"Madoka. Sometimes she likes to stay over when she's in the area. She set it up once and I just left it alone." Her face turned a curious shade of crimson. No doubt something strange was going through her mind at the moment, but he wasn't about to entertain them. "This door to the left is the bathroom. We'll have to share it for the night, so if you wanted to freshen up before you sleep, you can go ahead and use it first."

"Then the other room next door to mine-is that your bedroom?"

He opened the door and allowed her a little peek. His room was tidy and pretty barren. There was his bed, also another work table with his laptop and a neat stack of papers, and a small bookshelf with his more important reference books. "It is."

She blushed again. Naru was struck by the thought that she was like a chameleon that only knew how to transform into different shades of red. "Is your bedroom fine? Do you require anything?" he asked.

Mai shook her head. "No, it's perfect. I will just brush my teeth and go straight to sleep. I guess I am very tired after all." Their eyes met and he found himself unable to look away from her gaze. Eventually she broke the contact and practically ran to the bathroom with her bag and closed the door. Naru looked down and walked toward his room, closing the door behind him.

" _Why have I done this?_ " he mentally asked himself. He walked to his closet and began unbuttoning his shirt, recalling the few times he spent alone with Mai during their cases last year and how he would shamelessly take advantage of the situation. Whenever possible he would _make_ her go with him while gathering information, when Lin or Hara-san might have sufficed. There was that time during the Kasai case where the two of them often found themselves alone and at every opportunity he could, he would grab her hand or pull her body close behind him. Or that time at Ryokuryou High when he threw his body on top of her in order to protect her from the collapsed ceiling. Granted those were tough situations and he needed to protect her, but that much body contact was completely unnecessary. Why had his body craved the contact? He slipped into his pajamas.

Of course deep down he understood himself, understood the reason for why he did all that. There was an addictive electrifying feeling whenever he brushed against her skin and sometimes he would wonder what else was in store if things progressed further, but he would always quickly quench the thought and tried to keep a professional air between them. But it was difficult. Especially now that she was going to be sleeping in the next room. " _Why have I done this?_ "

He heard her exit the bathroom and felt her hovering outside his door. Thinking that she needed something, he opened it was surprised when he saw her flushed face, her long hair parted in the back and draped over both sides of her chest. She was wearing a modest nightdress, the tiny spaghetti straps teasing the allure of her petite, bare shoulders. During the Urado case a year ago he had entered her bedroom and saw her in kiddy pajamas. Now realization fully struck him about just how much time he had spent apart from her. "Yes?" was all he could say, and although he was sure his voice sounded steady, he couldn't tell if his face was betraying any emotion.

"Sorry... I just wanted to say goodnight..." She hid her nervousness behind her laughter.

"Mm. Goodnight." He nodded to her and headed for the bathroom where he would wash his face and take a deep, calming breath.

The next morning he woke up at his usual hour. Being an Englishman, Naru was used to taking his early morning shower before getting started with his day. He passed by her closed door and wondered what time his assistant usually got up, and made his way toward the kitchen. He couldn't cook, but he could at least pull off making toast and jam. Thinking that she most likely wouldn't be up until hours later, he ate his portion and cleaned up, setting the extra food aside with a mind to prepare it when she was ready.

After moving his laptop and papers from the bedroom into his living room (he figured it would be quite rude to keep himself locked up while he had a guest over), Naru opened up the unfinished Word file he was currently working on and thumbed through the correct page on his black notebook, reading it through and contemplated on the details. In the taskbar below, the Word file for his main research project was open, though he had not the chance to update it for a few days. " _I've had way too much distractions lately,_ " he thought wryly before clearing his throat and began typing up a report for the new case.

 _November 6_

 _Client: Sugiyama, Ichiro (realtor)_

 _Summary of complaint:_

 _-Trouble selling a large, old property in Kitaibaraki. Three different buyers had re-sold the house in the span of 5 years._

 _-First owner lasted 3 years but would call to consult whether it was possible to re-sell the house back to the market as soon as possible. In the last 15 months their calls increased in frequency until they decided to take a loss and leave even without a locked-in buyer._

 _-Second owner lasted 1 year with similar complaints._

 _-Latest owner only lasted 5 months in the house. Currently taking a major loss as owner left the property without even signing papers. The man who bought the house was hospitalized due to severe injuries (man's left arm un-salvageable and was amputated) but no sign of home intruder, leaving the sister as prime suspect. After release from hospital man deemed mentally unstable and checked into nearby mental institution. Sister put in detention, but as no evidence surfaced, was released and is currently laying low at nearby hotel._

He tapped his finger lightly on his keypad. "A very violent case..."

"What is?"

He snapped his head up and saw that Mai had already washed up and changed into a fresh set of clothes. He was so engrossed in this new case that he didn't even hear anything else. He shifted his position to make room for her since had been taking up the entire sofa, sitting sideways with his legs crossed and his laptop on his lap. She sat down next to him.

"Are you going over the details of our new case?"

"Yes. I need to prepare questions for Monday so we have as much detail as possible before heading in a potentially dangerous situation."

"Hmm."

Her silence surprised him. "You're not going to bother me with questions?" Her laughter ringed in his ears.

"No, I know you'll just tell me to wait until Monday anyway."

She let him finish up the rest of his report in silence. After a few minutes, Naru closed his laptop and placed it on the kotatsu, feeling Mai's eyes on him the entire time. " _At least that's one habit she hasn't shed,"_ he mused, then aloud asked, "Is there something you need?"

"No... I was just thinking how strange it feels to wake up and spend the early morning alone with you." Naru didn't say it, but he felt the same way. Although he wouldn't call it so much _strange_ as it was _nice_. He heard her stomach grumble loudly. "Oh... heh, well that and I was wondering if you have any breakfast food..."

He smiled and led her to the kitchen to amaze her with his toast preparation skills.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Mai woke up with a start. Realizing that she had forgotten to set her alarm clock the night before, she panicked and jumped right out of her bed, bolting straight to her tiny closet and smartly picked out her outfit for the day. In times like these where she had to be a little sportier than normal, she decided to forego her newer, mature fashion style and instead went old school-the good old green hooded cardigan and cargo pants combination. She parted her hair and twirled them into a tight bun on each side of her head and as soon as she finished the rest of her morning preparations, rushed out of her apartment and sprinted as fast as she can towards the train station where thankfully she managed to still catch the 7:40 train. For the entire ride she sat anxiously, tapping her foot silently and repeatedly looking at her watch. Finally when the voice overhead called out " _Shibuya station_ " and the train doors opened, she jumped right out and tried her best to beat the others to the front of the line for the ticket scanner. Once that was finished, she resumed sprinting toward the SPR office, determined to make it on time or die trying.

Unfortunately it was five minutes past eight by the time she arrived. Breathing heavily she opened up the door and hoped that Naru wouldn't be right behind it with his stern look; to her surprise instead she saw Houshou Takigawa, Ayako Matsuzaki, Masako Hara, Osamu Yasuhara, and John Brown sitting on the sofa and chatting idly with each toher. They all turned towards her.

"Good morning, Mai-chan," the cheery voice of Bou-san called out. The others said their greetings as well.

"G-good morning, everyone. But what are you guys doing here so early?" she asked as she closed the door behind her, furrowing her brows and puzzling over their presence in the office. Usually the group never came together like this until the afternoon when everybody had already finished with their own work. Suddenly a low, silky voice cut through the air somewhere to her right, making her jump.

"Perhaps the better question is to ask what you are doing by being late." Naru was half standing, half sitting on the edge of her own office desk, holding a notebook in his hand. Evidently he had been tuning out the rest of the rabble while he looked over his notes, but now he was looking at her with his piercing dark eyes. It was not a question. Mai could tell he was severely annoyed with her. And she had promised him before they parted on Sunday morning that she wasn't going to be late today, of all day, too! With Lin-san out sick, who would have taken the tedious role of note-taker if the client had arrived earlier than their designated meeting time? Naru would not have stood for that. But this line of thought was soon forgotten when she recalled her two-day stay at his place. She had meant to go home on Saturday night right after having dinner with him as they originally planned, but she embarrassingly ended up dozing off again until it had gotten way too late. That meant she got to stay another night and only left after breakfast the next day. It was the longest she ever got to hang out with him, alone.

"S-sorry... I had a long night and apparently forgot to set my alarm..." She cast a quick glance at Yasuhara and found him smiling at her sympathetically, which she returned sheepishly. In order to appease her angered boss, she immediately skipped toward the kitchenette and said, "I'll prepare everyone's tea! Oh, also there are sweets here for everyone. From my trip to Okinawa."

Upon hearing this, the others let out an excited murmur and were about to head for the offerings but stopped when Naru snapped his notebook shut. "You people need to stop treating this place as a cafe. Get ready; the client is already here." And sure enough, there was a knock on the door. Everyone remained standing up and waited expectantly as the door opened. A middle-aged man in a business suit stepped in and inquired without a hint of timidity, "Good morning, is Shibuya-san in today?"

"Yes, I am. Please, come in and take a seat, Sugiyama-san."

The man nodded and closed the door behind him, stepping in and curiously eyeing everyone around him. Mai assumed he must be wondering who they were, as Naru and Lin-san were the only ones he saw in the office when he had come in last week. As Naru walked away to sit down at the sofa with the others, Mai tiptoed to her desk and picked up her notebook and pen, ready to do her part as an assistant. She found a spot to sit in beside Yasuhara and settled in as Naru started introducing the group one by one, pausing to allow them to say a few words to the client in order to explain their specialties. He then quickly introduced Mai and Yasuhara as his assistants. As soon as the introductions were complete, everyone sat down, looking at Naru to hear his next words.

"Based on the details you gave me during our interview last Thursday, Sugiyama-san, it would seem this case might be very dangerous. I have requested the others to be present during this interview so that they may hear the case facts for themselves and let them decide whether or not they will be willing to accept the case." Mai and the others shifted anxiously in their seats; Naru hadn't told them anything related to the case yet so they were all feeling the suspense. "Please let us hear the details, as much as you can provide us."

Mai opened her notebook and prepared to write down the case information.

Sugiyama-san gripped the suitcase he'd been carrying, probably to mentally prepare himself, then lowered the bag to the floor beside him. He said, "I began to work for Mitsui Real Estate agency about six years ago. I suddenly found myself in charge of the Kitaibaraki estate in question only a few months after joining due to my senior quitting his job. His wife had gotten a job offer at Nagano and was deliberating whether or not they should move, and since he was having a very difficult time selling the house and didn't want to deal with the burden anymore, they packed up and left.

"From his files I learned that before it passed to our company, the estate had been constantly in and out of the market for decades. The then-owner of the house decided that the easiest way to sell it was through the help of our agency. Curious, my senior took a tour of the house and found absolutely nothing wrong with it so he agreed to take the case. It was a mansion in European style, beautifully situated in the countryside, and had spacious grounds; he couldn't believe that it would be difficult to move in the market. But before he knew it, the house was sitting stagnant in the market for three years. It's not like there were no good offers, though. Plenty came to take a tour of the house and appeared to heavily consider buying it, but strangely, although nothing out of sorts happened during the tour everyone would eventually have second thoughts and decide not to go through with it. With the previous owner desperate to rid of it and our higher-ups constantly hounding him about finding a buyer, it's not surprising he felt pressured to quit."

"And how have you coped with the issue so far?" Naru asked.

"Not well, though better than he, I should say. I was able to finally coax a first buyer into purchasing the estate, but it was not easy. They were a family of five: husband and wife, two kids below ten years old, and a teenager. They were hesitant at first, but I knew they really fell in love with the place so I didn't need to push them too hard. However several months in they started phoning me and hinting that they were regretting getting the house. Of course I felt guilty and tried to ease their worries so I would entertain them, ask them what was wrong, but they themselves would make light of the situation and tell me that they were just hearing strange noises in the night, nothing too serious. I suggested they install a burglar alarm to help them feel better and I thought it worked out since they didn't call me up again until months later."

He cleared his throat, getting parched from talking. Right at that moment, as if on queue, the water that she had put on earlier started boiling. Mai paused from her note-taking duty and hurriedly went to the kitchenette to pour their guest some tea. She smiled as he took the steaming cup from her, looking at her gratefully. He continued, "As time went on their calls became more frequent, more urgent. Suddenly they were complaining of feeling unsafe in their own house-seeing shadows, hearing voices, heavy footsteps, general feeling that something was watching them... but nothing would trip their burglar alarm. I thought they were just being paranoid, but they were serious enough about it that they decided to sell it back to the market and left the premises even before they locked-in a buyer. They were willing to take the loss, which was not a paltry sum, mind you."

Bou-san spoke up. "How long did they endure the place?"

"Three years," answered Sugiyama.

"You were then able to find another buyer? How long?" it was Naru who pressed for details this time.

"I found a buyer after six months-"

" _Hmm..._ " Mai studied him. Sugiyama-san looked to be in his mid-thirties, his face still youthful and his jet black hair neatly slicked back. Although at the moment he seemed to be tired and suffering from anxiety, she could tell from the way he carried himself that he was a usually confident man; there was no denying that he was very eloquent, charming, and even tempered, all characteristics that are useful in his field. It was no wonder he was able to do what even his senior couldn't do. Caught in her thoughts, she suddenly realized she hadn't been listening to what he was saying. " _Crap!_ _I'd better double down and focus._ "

"-Family of four: husband and wife, and two teenagers." Sugiyama's face betrayed the shame he was feeling. "I pushed the house to them even after I noticed that they were also hesitant about it. I should have seen the similarities in the way they acted when they were still deliberating. But I guess at the time I cared more about myself and my job more..." He took another sip of his tea. "The second family didn't last as long. After a year they were gone, complaining of the same things as the previous owners.

"The last buyer-the current owner..." his voice trailed off. "He is a younger man about my age, thirty-five years old, without his own family. It was just him and his younger sister-she's in her late twenties-they came to check out the place and I was a little bit more attentive to their concerns this time. I made up my mind that I wasn't going to push them as hard, but to my surprise, they overcame their own apprehensions and decided to purchase it." The man stopped here and his features tensed up, but it was obvious he wanted to say more. To Mai's surprise, Naru waited patiently until the man gathered himself and resumed, "They lasted only five months. It seems whatever the other families have been afraid of finally lashed out."

"Lashed out? How?" asked John.

"Hoshimi Saito-san, the man who purchased the estate, had his left arm badly mangled, barely hanging on by the skin. From the police reports it was said the injuries looked like it had been done with a hatchet or something brutish. It couldn't be saved and had to be amputated." Everyone (with the exception of Naru) let out a horrified gasp, but Mai thought she noticed something strange with Sugiyama's eyes in that moment. "Additionally, he went crazy and had to be sent away to a mental institution, presumably over the severe trauma he went through." There was definitely something off about him right now, she could feel it. But what? She looked around at the others and realized they had not picked up on anything, making her question herself. Still, she wrote the feeling down on her notepad.

Masako, who was currently wearing her kimono, covered her mouth behind her sleeves and looked particularly ill. The others didn't look well either. Yasuhara observed, more to himself, "It sounds like it escalated pretty quickly for Hoshimi-san."

"You said suspicion first fell on his younger sister?"

Sugiyama-san shifted and turned his gaze toward Naru who had just addressed him. "Yes, Hoshimi Yukina-san. There was no sign of intruders or any break in and as she was the only one present with him in the property during the time of the attack, the police assumed it must have been her. But there was no way she could have done it. Not Yukina-san; you'd know what I mean if you saw her."

Naru raised his brow. "You seem awfully sure."

"Yes, I'm sure. And eventually the police realized it was impossible for her to do it too, since they eventually released her after detainment due to lack of evidence."

"Were you aware if they had any sort of misunderstanding between them right before the attack?"

"What makes you think I'm privy to that information? I'm just a real estate agent they consulted," Sugiyama-san countered. Mai couldn't shake off the strange feeling and questioned herself whether she should bring it up to the others once the client leaves. She mentally shook her head. " _Without Gene to guide me, I can't be sure. I haven't been useful at all to the others during our cases with Madoka... I shouldn't get too cocky and start spouting off my own ideas now..._ "

Sugiyama-san grabbed a folder from his suitcase and stood up, bowing low to everyone. "Please, this folder holds all the pertinent files I can legally share regarding the estate. I cannot give out any information regarding the clients other than their names due to privacy agreement, so I hope you will forgive me for that. If there's anything else you'll need, I will do my best to help you out somehow. Just please... I humbly beg all of you to consider this case." He kept himself in this humble pose, waiting for an answer.

Bou-san became uncomfortable and begged him to straighten up, saying, "Well I have to say it is a very interesting case for me, but it sounds really bad." Sugiyama-san finally raised his head and looked at him, afraid of his refusal, but Bou-san reassured him. "It sounds really bad, so I feel like I have no choice but to help out. Well, of course I can't do it alone, so although I would like to do so..." he looked around.

John and Masako met his gaze and they seem to be thinking along the same lines as him. Ayako was strangely quiet and kept glancing at Bou-san but said nothing. After a few seconds of uncertainty, Naru grabbed the folder that Sugiyama-san was holding out and finally spoke, "We will take the case. Please prepare a room for us that we can use as a base. We have lots of equipment we will be bringing in, so a spacious room will be best. We can begin the investigation tomorrow."

Sugiyama-san's joy and relief was palpable. He bowed sincerely once again and profusely thanked everyone before leaving. As soon as his footsteps died away, Ayako spoke up.

"I hope you guys know what you're doing. This sounds like really bad news. I mean, _mutilation_? That could end up happening to one of us."

Bou-san answered her, "It is dangerous, no doubt about that. Really, if anyone else doesn't want to come, now is a good time to say so." He looked around first before letting his gaze fall on Ayako, his eyes not showing any derision nor mock; he was being sincere. "It's okay if you don't want to go, Ayako," he said softly.

The red-haired Miko's face scrunched up. Mai could tell she was really afraid (in fact, so was she), but eventually Ayako sighed and murmured, "Well if you're going, then of course I'm coming."

Naru cupped his right hand to his chin and bit the tip of his thumb. "Lin will definitely have to come along despite his illness. This is not something we can handle without him. Mai, Yasuhara-san," he called out to them. "Will both of you be able to take some time off from school?"

To her right, Yasuhara cheerfully answered, "No one takes attendance in universities after all. It will be fine on my end."

Mai gulped when Naru shifted his gaze toward her with his raised eyebrow as if saying, " _Well?_ " She took a deep breath and nodded. "I just have to let my school know. I'll ask for a week off."

In reality, Mai dreaded having to go. Not just because college entrance exams were right around the corner and she was not even close to being ready, but mostly because she's been having this nagging feeling inside her that she couldn't place. " _Strange,_ " she thought, " _even though I should be extremely excited since this will be our first case since Naru's return_." Nonetheless, she trusted in everyone's abilities and decided that she wasn't going to back out. "Just excuse me for a bit then; I will call the school and ask for permission."

She went to get her cellphone and stepped out.

* * *

 _A/N: Everything I knew about Ghost Hunt was only based on the anime and the last few chapters of the manga. Now that I found the translation of the light novels, I'm realizing there's a wealth of information I did not know about! I will try to incorporate relevant information so that it feels like it's part of the GH universe, so if I had missed something, I hope to correct it in the later chapters. Thanks again for reading._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"I don't think Mai should come."

Naru ignored Takigawa-san's comment and simply walked over to the place where Mai had sat. He picked up her notebook and retraced his steps, sitting back down on the edge of Mai's table. He opened it and frowned. Her hand writing was atrocious and her notes were sparse and awful. Takigawa insisted, "Really, this place sounds like bad news and _Jou-chan_ will just be put in unnecessary danger."

"Although Mai may not be capable enough, the rest of us will be there and I hope that at least one of you professionals will be useful enough to protect her. This case will be difficult and we need all the help we can get."

Takigawa clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Naru-chan, you know Mai-chan hasn't been able to rely much on her latent ESP ever since you left, right? There really is no point in having her around."

Although this was a complete surprise to him, he didn't show it on his face. Perhaps Gene's absence has made her powers regress. Nonetheless, he challenged, "Go ahead and tell her that then. See if she'll like being told she's not needed." That immediately silenced the monk.

This time it was John who continued on. "University entrance exams are also coming up soon, right? Perhaps we can suggest for Mai-san to stay in and just study for her exams; I agree with Takigawa-san. This is no ordinary case and even I feel a bit hesitant to have her and Yasuhara-san coming along." His voice was kind, but a bit more severe than usual.

Ayako looked at the blonde man beside her and drawled, "Ah, so the Australian priest is actually aware of Japan's school system, huh? Surprising."

"Yes," he answered, "Lately our parishioners have been coming to ask us to help pray for their children during this stressful times." Ayako's lips curved down as she hummed, signifying that what he said made sense.

"That's right! Man, has Mai-chan even had any chance to study for that? Her future is very important! Going to school everyday then coming straight here to file some paperwork, even on weekends... It doesn't give her time to sign herself up for cram school or anything."

"Oh, if you're worried about that, don't worry," Yasuhara suddenly said sprightly to Takigawa. "Mai is actually working very hard to make sure she's prepared for the exams."

Naru was in the middle of thumbing through the folder that Sugiyama-san handed to him when Yasuhara's words pricked his ears, although he did not look up. " _Mai? Without honorifics?_ " he thought.

"And how do you know that, _shounen*_?"

Yasuhara replied casually, "Oh I tutor her for hours every Sundays."

Bou-san raised his eyebrow in disbelief. "Every Sundays? You guys diligently go to the library every Sundays?"

"No, we do it at my place. It's more convenient that way because we can converse without worry and she can be free to ask me any questions."

"Then today when she was late...?" Takigawa looked at the boy before him but he didn't finish his sentence. He gripped Yasuhara by his shoulders and brought his face closer to him, asking slyly, "Ne, shounen, are you perhaps trying to rekindle old romance?" This sentence definitely perked Naru's interest and even his pride couldn't stop him from glancing up with the corner of his eye.

Yasuhara laughed his easy laugh and airily said, "Well, who knows?"

"Well, well," Masako had replied, with a glint in her eyes, obviously quite excited by the idea. "Perhaps things might work out this time around?"

Matsuzaki was also smiling and mused, "You guys were dating for about five months, weren't you? But unfortunately you broke up several weeks ago. I'm surprised you guys are still getting along on good terms. That's actually quite mature of both of you."

"Well, we did split on amicable terms after all."

With a mischevious glint in his eye, Takigawa grabbed Yasuhara by the shoulders again and sneered, "So come on, tell this old man... how far have you two gotten?"

At this question, everyone around the coffee table exclaimed in protest. Masako blushed deeply and covered her face with her kimono, John sunk himself smaller into the sofa, even Naru's breath hitched (but was thankfully for him, undetected by the others), while Ayako hit Takigawa in the head, exclaiming, "Houshou! What a lewd question! Stop that!"

But Takigawa merely laughed and said, "Aw come on, it's not like these young people have done anything. I mean, come on, right?" he turned to Yasuhara, but immediately gulped when he met his impish grin.

Yasuhara shrugged and stated, "One must never kiss and tell, Bou-san."

If everyone were shocked by Takigawa's question, everyone practically fell over their seats at this highly provocative answer. The monk took him by the collar and stuttered, "S-so you mean to tell me that y-you and Mai have-have-!" His eyes were aflame, no doubt feeling like he needed to protect the sanctity of Mai's body as an older brother.

Although he was enjoying seeing everybody so flustered, Yasuhara eventually relented. "I never said anything of the sort. In fact, I neither confirmed nor refuted your statement. I have managed to keep Mai's modesty intact and my masculinity unchallenged." He gently but firmly pushed Takigawa away and laughed again. "In other words: what we've done or not done is none of your business. Come on, Bou-san, no more teasing. Besides I suddenly feel a sudden dread; does it feel like a sudden draft came in? Or has the heating suddenly turned off?"

Takigawa eventually loosened his grip on Yasuhara's shirt and his face calmed down. He sat down and sighed, muttering, "You should really stop playing with people like that."

Just then, the door opened and Mai stepped in. She was smiling and happily announced that she managed to get the entire week off and a few more days if necessary. The monk stood up again and went up to her.

"Mai-chan, are you _sure_ you want to come to this case? It's dangerous."

She bit her lip and looked away, but then made up her mind. She explained, "Well I was a bit hesitant because I'm scared, but definitely I will go and support everyone. I need to go and earn my pay too, after all." She gently broke away from Takigawa's hold and smiled at him reassuringly.

Naru watched silently as she walked up to the coffee table and sat down back at her spot, by Yasuhara's side. He suddenly found himself very annoyed. "Mai, your note. Why did you scribble down ' _hiding something_ ' several times here?"

"Eh? Ah, that...well as Sugiyama-san was talking I just suddenly felt those words in my heart. I wasn't sure why so I just wrote it down."

Naru considered her answer and nodded. "I noticed his demeanor changed when we spoke of Yukina-san. You seem to have caught on as well." At this, both Bou-san and Mai beamed. Naru assumed Bou-san must have felt better now that Mai's latent ESP seem to be working again. Perhaps she wouldn't be so helpless after all.

When the conversation dissolved into other matters, Mai stood up and bent over to pick up the tea cups on the table. Her phone had slipped off and landed by Yasuhara's feet, who then picked it up and casually slid it back into her pocket by himself. She smiled and thanked him.

Naru shut his book loudly and told everyone that the meeting is over and that they should leave, saying tersely, "Meet back here tomorrow by 6 am." Everyone sighed. When it was clear the others would still be loitering around for a few more minutes, Naru pinched the bridge of his nose and headed toward his office. With one last sidelong glance at the group, he saw Mai and Yasuhara laughing together. His eyes narrowed and he snapped, "Mai. Tea," before opening his door and shutting it behind him. His head hurt.

* * *

 _A/N: Jou-chan* means young lady and Shounen* means young man/boy (Bou-san often calls Mai and Yasuhara that, respectively). Alright, finally the next chapter will be the beginning of Case #1. I hoped you all enjoyed this prologue of sorts! Thanks for reading!_

 _P.S: I just absolutely love Yasuhara. Such snark._


	6. Chapter 6: Case 1

_A/N: Warning for **mature** content. _

**Case 1**

 **Tuesday, November 10**

The start of the morning was entirely uneventful. The whole team, not wishing to anger their moody boss on the first major case together, all trickled in the office a few minutes before six as he had commanded. This gave Naru just enough time to brief them on the equipments they will be needing before sending everyone out to do manual labor. After taking several trips up and down the stairwell with sizeable loads, Mai heard Ayako grumble about almost breaking her nails.

By seven thirty the team was finally ready to depart. They split into two vans as they had always done in the past: Lin taking Naru, Mai, and the equipments in one, while Takigawa taking the rest of the team in the other. The plan was to simply take the Joban Expressway out of Tokyo and drive straight into Kitaibaraki in Ibaraki Prefecture, on the way encountering nothing particular of note except wide expanse of rice paddies and untouched forestry. Although the long drive and lack of stimulating conversation would have greatly bored her out of her mind back in the day, Mai now found the silence quite comforting. It allowed her plenty of time to catch up on sleep.

When she woke up almost three hours later, they were closing in on their destination. She tried to push her disappointment away when she, yet again, still saw no signs of Gene in her dreams. Honestly she thought with the new case that everything would go back to normal, but now she knew not to expect too much of herself. She let out a small yelp when her phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket. She quickly took it out and smiled at receiving a Line* message from Yasuhara.

 _'You're probably stiff bored over there, aren't you?'_

' _Not really,'_ she replied. 'I _actually just woke up from my beauty sleep._ '

 _'Aw damn. I had hoped to make you feel bad, but now you reversed it on me. I wanted to sleep too, but it's impossible here. Everyone is so loud.'_

Another smile from her. ' _Well if you want we can switch cars on the way back.'_ Mai watched in amusement as the dots on right of her message balloon repeatedly started and stopped moving, signifying that the person on the other line was typing and re-typing their message. It took a full minute before he finally settled on a reply.

' _Well I was thinking we could try to stick to the same car on the ride back?_ '

Her heart skipped a beat and this time, it was she who had to deliberate on her reply. Although they had recently split up on good terms, she definitely still had feelings for him. In the short time they were together, Mai came to know the real Yasuhara behind his jocular mask-that he was a boy who was keenly perceptive, lovingly sincere, and sweetly understanding.

Both knew the beginning of their romantic relationship was built on unstable footing, for Mai still had much unresolved feelings she held on to. The precarious equilibrium fully tipped over when Madoka suddenly announced that Naru was returning back to Japan, prompting a much needed conversation between them. They spoke at length about their relationship and with a brutally honest assessment of their current situation, realized that Naru's presence would surely stir up some trouble. Yasuhara conceded with humility that he knew she had loved the twins far longer than she had him, and since both of them left her behind so suddenly, he would understand if her feelings were confused. He suggested for them to break up, hopefully only temporarily, as she tried to sort out her emotions. Hearing his logical analysis, Mai was at first mad that he could be so selflessly impassive about their relationship, but Yasuhara softly murmured that it was not merely a gallant act on his part, but more of a way of protecting himself from further pain. She realized fully that he was hurt and deeply troubled, but more than anything he loved and cared about her too much that he wanted to give her the chance she deserved to sort through her inner turmoil.

Mai turned her eye to the boy in front of her, sitting in the front seat seemingly oblivious to her existence. She thought about Eugene, long dead and who had hopefully passed on to the life beyond. It really wasn't any fair to Yasuhara at all; it really shouldn't be this confusing for her at all. Yet it was.

' _I'd like that. Who do you propose we throw here in my place?'_

 _'Masako might be glad for the opportunity.'_

She bit her lip. She still didn't like it when Masako had anything to do with Naru. Especially now that she had only gotten cuter as she got older. ' _Hm, maybe. But maybe John is the better choice since he probably doesn't like all the noise either.'_

 _'Well we got two options. One of them is bound to agree. Looks like we're almost here-see you real soon.'_

Sure enough, Lin-san slowed the van down to a halt, parking it inside a relatively small building. Clearly it was the parking structure of the estate. The building itself looked a bit old, but it was well maintained. Naru and Lin had already gotten out of the car and began speaking with Sugiyama-san, who had also just arrived to meet them.

She adroitly jumped out of the van and ran outside to breathe in the fresh air, looking curiously around her foreign surrounding. The actual mansion was no where in sight, but Mai spotted a narrow, paved path a couple of meters behind the parking building and assumed they'd had to do some trekking to reach it. Behind her, the rest of the group in Bou-san's car finally arrived and she waved gingerly at them. As soon as everyone had gotten out of the car, stretched, popped their tired joints, and mused about the calm scenery about them, Naru and Lin rejoined the group to snap them all back to business.

"Sugiyama-san will be stepping out for a bit to make us copies of the key to garage side entrance, as well as the blueprints of the house." Behind her, Mai heard the crunch of Sugiyama-san's car tires against the loose gravel as he pulled out and drove away. Naru resumed, "The house itself may be too dangerous so we will set up the base here in the parking garage. Yasuhara-san, Mai, stay here and make the preparations. We have a limited amount of space so we may not be able to use all our monitors."

"Where will we be sleeping?" Ayako asked.

He diverted his attention to her for a bit and answered, "Lin had already made reservations at the nearby hotel, twenty minutes away from here. We will check in once everything is set up." When Ayako nodded, he continued, "Hara-san, try to get a reading of the estate while you patrol around the perimeter of the house. Bou-san, you will accompany her. The rest of us will set up the stand-alone video cameras in tactical locations outside. John will accompany Matsuzaki-san; Lin is with me. Once all that is finished, we will reconvene back here." Everyone understood their parts and nodded.

When everyone else had left, Mai and Yasuhara got started on the work ahead of them, starting with putting together the shelf in which they were to stack all the monitors on. It took them twenty minutes to set the shelf up before moving on to their heavy lifting.

"So Mai," Yasuhara said in between grunts as he hefted one of the last monitors into its spot, "have you had any feelings about this case?"

She grabbed the cords and started connecting the monitors to each other and to the power supply, squeezing her way in the tight area behind the shelf. "Kind of. I don't really know how to explain it, but I'm not entirely sure we can trust Sugiyama-san."

The boy found this worrying. "How do you mean? Are we fearing he might stab us in the back, or what?"

She laughed. "No, not like that. More like I don't trust what he's telling-or not telling-us. I feel like he's hiding something. Just an intuition."

"Just an intuition, huh? So I take it Eugene Davis still hasn't shown himself in your dreams to guide you in his quizzical way?"

Mai emerged from her spot and smiled sadly. "No, unf-" she began, but stopped herself before saying anything further, wondering if it would hurt him if she were to honestly say how desperately she's been wanting to see Gene. Yasuhara looked at her kindly, understanding her sentiment.

"That must mean he really must have moved on then. That's good, right?"

"Mm..."

They were silent for a few minutes as they turned on the monitors and turned on the video cameras, making sure that the monitors were able to receive a live feed. Yasuhara managed to find out that one of the thermal imaging cameras was having issues, so he put it back in the van and took out one of the spare equipments they packed. As usual, Naru had been correct in asking them to pack extra. Yasuhara snorted and shook his head with a laugh.

"Osamu? What's so funny?"

Yasuhara shrugged his shoulders and held up the other camera in his hand. He plugged the cord in and turned it on to make sure it was working first before turning it back off to conserve battery. "Nothing, just in awe at how the big Boss seemingly could always see ahead. Fortune-telling isn't one of his other superworldly powers, is it?"

Mai laughed and shook her head. "That would be funny. And convenient. I would like to ask him a few questions about my future if that were the case." Hearing those words, both of them paused and stared at each other, not knowing how to continue the subject.

He shyly walked up to her and eyed her hands, but did not take them in his. Instead, he looked her gently in the eye and murmured, "Me too. Have you... thought about...?" When Mai bit her lip and looked away from his eyes, he nodded and backed off. He changed gears by sighing loudly and chirped jovially, "Well, looks like we finally finished! It sucks having only two people do this kind of work. How did big Boss and Lin do it with just the two of them before?"

Mai thanked him gratefully with a smile and followed his lead. "Well to be fair to you, it's like you did it all by yourself. I only did the small things." Yasuhara laughed and agreed readily.

Behind them, Bou-san's mildly accusatory voice said, "What's this, Shounen? I knew you'd be flirting around with Mai-chan! You always manage to do that whenever none of us are around."

"Come on, Bou-san, be fair. I do it even _with_ you guys around."

The monk hung his head and chucked. "That's true."

The others soon trickled in the building. Naru and Masako were the last one to arrive, trailing behind the others while deep in conversation. Mai noted Naru's incredibly pensive mood. He seemed to have made up his mind when he spoke up.

"Hara-san saw no spirits in the grounds outside the building, but felt several strong presence coming from the house. We don't know how many there are, but it's clear that it's not just one entity. I don't like the idea of staying here until sun-down. I'd like everyone to work quickly in setting up the cameras and get a feel for the place so we know what we should focus on for tomorrow's investigation." He produced eight copies of the blueprint he got from Sugiyama earlier while he was examining the grounds, and handed it out to everyone in the group. He lifted the sleeve on his black turtleneck to look at his watch and said, "It is currently one o'clock. We will split into four groups. John and Hara-san, take the first floor, left wing. Mai and Bou-san, first floor, right wing. Matsuzaki-san and Yasuhara-san, second floor, left wing. Lin and I will take the second floor right wing. I want the thermal imaging cameras set up in corners where we can view multiple doorways."

Mai spoke up. "Hoshimi Saito-san... where was he attacked? The reports we've received were all pretty vague. Heavy footsteps, shadows, voices, but nowhere in particular stood out in these reports. I think the room where they found Hoshimi-san would be one of the best place to put those cameras."

She suddenly felt self conscious when Naru turned to look at her. She expected him to tease her, make some sarcastic remark at how she's finally shown some common sense, but to her surprise, he did nothing of the sort. Instead he answered her evenly as a colleague, saying, "I believe that as well. The room in question is in the second floor right wing. Lin and I will be checking it out. At five we will all meet back at the entrance, whether you are finished setting up or not. We leave here before the sun sets. Is everything clear?"

Once again, everyone nodded in affirmative.

-00000-

Mai and Bou-san had meticulously gone through every doors in the right wing, which mostly lead to small rooms filled with books and dusty miscellaneous items. They may have been bedrooms, or perhaps storage rooms, back when they were in use, and both briefly wondered whether the place could have been a hotel at some point in time. Bou-san said he will make sure to ask Naru more details about the house later. They entered the last room, Bou-san stepping in behind her.

Suddenly, a cold chill ran through her body and she froze in place. " _No... I-I can't take this anymore! Please... no more...not tonight,"_ Mai thought frantically. " _I need to run away-but where?"_

"It's quarter to five, Mai-chan. Ah, I see Masako and John waving at us by the entrance. Looks like Ayako and shounen are also coming down the staircase now, too. We should be finishing up pretty soon, too; just this room left. Eh, Mai-chan-?"

Mai could barely hear Bou-san's voice amidst her pounding heartbeat. " _He's coming. He's coming soon! Help, please!_ " She looked around and tried to find a place to hide. The room was very dark; the only light was coming from a dim, old lamp by the corner so if she could somehow squeeze into a space somewhere, perhaps he would think she escaped and she can be spared tonight until she can finally leave by the morning. " _No, it's no use. If I hide, he'll hurt me even more._ "

"-Mai-chan? What's the matter?"

She was trembling. She could hear someone speaking in the distance, but it was fast fading away and now she was stuck with no where else to go, waiting for the dreaded moment. He'll be coming in now, any minute. Her body was still aching from yesterday, and the day before that. Will this man ever become satisfied?

Why doesn't anybody ever come help her?

" _I need to leave this place. I need to leave this place forever, please. Someone... No. No. I can't leave. I have no money to my name and who will believe me? I will be cast out and left to die on my own if I say awful things about him._ "

Click.

Mai spun her head and felt her heart stop. The door to her room opened slowly and the stench of alcohol wafted from the door. A blonde Englishman stumbled in. He had been drinking again, like he always did before coming to see her. He had said it helped him lose more inhibition-allowed him to go wilder with pleasure. He slowly entered her room and searched the darkness for her figure, and then sneered. He found her.

She stepped back and put her arms out in front of her to shield herself, although she knew it was no use. Her pupils had constricted, her ears were pounding, and she was sweating profusely despite trembling as if cold. She didn't even have the reflex to dodge out of the way when he mercilessly lunged at her, sending the back of her head to hit the wooden floor beneath her with a resounding thud. Yesterday, although he hurt her until she bled and almost choked to death, he had started gentler than normal. Today, completely inebriated by taking multiple shots of the newly imported Whiskey he bought from the Japanese-British Exhibition at the capital, he was ruthless. He had both her hands up abover her head in a vice, while he straddled and grinded his lower body against hers. He buried his face in her neck and slobbered all over her, the edges of his teeth scraping against her skin.

Tears started to fall, but she felt too weak to fight him off.

His hands ripped her dress open while he used his knee to wedge in between her legs and spread it apart. Mai violently shook her head and pleaded. " _Please... please... enough. Don't touch me anymore. Please!_ " but the man wouldn't listen.

His hands, twiching excitedly, already glided up her leg since her dress was too easy of an access and found her undergarment. He laughed lecherously and yanked it off, sneering, " _Chiriko... Chiriko... you know you'll like this very much..._ " He roughly plunged a finger inside of her, making her yell out in pain. In the same breath, the man bit down onto her breast and only grew hornier the more she strugged beneath him. Mai howled in agony at the pain and shame that coursed through her.

"-Mai!"

"NO!" she screamed out as the monk shook her, trying to snap her out of the vision. When she came to and saw him holding on to her, she recoiled in repulsion and instinctively slapped his hand away. She took a few steps back and then threw up. Every part of her body felt chilled to the bone and she could not stop shivering. It felt foreign to her, felt so gross, and she wanted to rip every inch of her skin off. It was only when a soft, warm hand reach for her head and pulled it to a tight embrace that she was able to realize what she had just gone through was merely one of those bad dreams. A small whimper came out of her throat as she buried her face onto her friend's chest and wailed despairingly, "Ayako!"

The miko gently patted her head and shushed her, assuring her that it was all going to be okay now. Masako had also laid a hand on her back in an effort to calm her down.

"Guys, leave us for now. Go, go," Ayako had said, presumably to the rest of the team who had by then begun to gather around them. Mai heard the faint click of the door as it closed, leaving only the three of them in the room, but she still couldn't bring to tear herself away. She remained there, sobbing, until she could no longer cry anymore.

Eventually she calmed down and she met both their eyes. "Ayako... Masako... Thank you."

Masako's eyes were gentle and reassuring. "Of course... Are you ready to tell us what happened in your vision?"

Mai nodded. She was going to have to tell them the story of the ghost whose life she experienced. With much shame, humiliation, and fury, she said in a terrified whisper, "I was... getting raped."

 _A/N: It's very hard to write about something that sounds so unpleasant. Anyway, do review the chapters please. I know several people had put this on their watch and favorite list (thank you so much for that!), so I know at least some people read it. It really means a lot to me when I get reviews in forms of criticisms, musings, questions, ideas, etc. Thank you again for taking the time to read this._


	7. Chapter 7: Case 1

**Case 1**

 **November 10**

Mai finished recounting the details of her recent vision and as she realized existence of a giant bump forming at the back of her head, she violently shuddered. She snapped her eyes toward Ayako, fearing for a second that whatever happened in the dream also physically happened to her, but the Miko assured her that she got that injury when she fell down and Bou-san had just been a tad too late to catch her completely.

Masako reached out to her and straighted out her shirt, which was also disheveled, and said softly, "This one was your doing while you were thrashing around. It looked like you were struggling so hard to pry something off you."

Mai felt slightly relieved and looked down at her balled up fists, but then Ayako pulled her into another affectionate hug, just like a mother would, whose only wish in the world right now was to right all the wrongs done to her beloved child. She closed her eyes and let out a shaky sigh in Ayako's arms and fought back the tears coming on, feeling extremely touched by the gesture.

"It's alright, you're fine now. It was a dream..." Ayako's gentle voice soothed in her ear as she stroked her head.

The sun behind them was rapidly setting down, casting long shadows in the room. Masako gave Mai another gentle pat on the back before standing up and giving the room another look over, trying to feel any presence.

Mai looked up at her and asked softly, "Do you feel anything? Is the spirit of Chiriko-san still here?"

The spirit medium shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. Whatever was in this room is gone for now. In fact, the whole house seems too quiet." Their conversation stopped when they heard the muffled voices of Bou-san and the others beyond the door, rising louder in volume from an incoming argument, prompting the ladies to cut their bonding time short. Mai cracked the door slightly open and took a tentative peek outside. She saw them standing in a semi-circle, tense and clearly agitated at the situation and did not notice her. Bou-san in particular seemed on the edge.

"I've been telling you, I really don't know what happened. We were just walking and she was fine, the next second she crumpled on to the floor and started thrashing around and screaming at the top of her lungs. I heard her hit her head pretty hard, and then when I snapped her out of it, she looked at me with so much hate. If her vision was just like the one she had during the Urado case-" Monk sighed in frustration and rubbed his temples furiously.

"Maybe the vision was very strong this time because she hasn't had any for a while?" John offered.

"It isn't safe for her here! We should have left her behind!" Bou-san said pointedly toward Naru. When she saw the black haired boy narrow his eyes and prepare what she assumed would be a very pointed retort, Mai opened the door fully and called out to intervene.

"I'm alright, I'm alright," she said reassuringly to the monk, who snapped his attention immediately towards her and opened his arms wide to give her a hug. She automatically made a motion to embrace him back, but as she neared him the fear and hesitation overtook her mind and she shrunk back with wide eyes, slightly trembling. She didn't know if she was more terrified of the dream, or of developing a traumatic disorder from being touched by men. Mai wanted to cry, to apologize to Bou-san profusely, but she couldn't bring herself to make use of her voice.

Ayako deftly covered up for her when Bou-san blanched at her apparent repulsion of him. "She's still feeling queasy. She threw up a lot so don't hug her with your insane grip." He looked at the two of them with uncertainty, but seemed to accept the explanation and retreated several steps back to give her space.

Yasuhara approached her tactfully from the side but kept his distance. His brows were furrowed with concern and though he said nothing, his eyes spoke for him in volume. She tried to smile and said once again, "Really, I'm fine. Just shaken up a bit. The dream was... intense."

He nodded and didn't push further, seeing that she was still refusing to tell the group what happened, and then turning to Naru, said, "It's already almost six, Boss. Should we head out for now? Sun's disappearing."

This time Naru turned his eyes on her and appeared to be considering whether to push her with questions, but to her relief, decided that the more prudent course of action was to leave the premises immediately before night time took over. She breathed freely once everyone's attention turned away from her and receded back into her thoughts. " _There's no way I can tell the boys... it's too... humiliating and degrading._ " But then in the back of her head, she knew she would have to. It could be hiding clues to their investigation that might help them solve the case quicker. All the thinking made her head spin so she pushed everything out of her mind and walked blankly. Thankfully, nothing further happened as they exited the premises.

After making sure to lock up at the base and double checking to make sure the cameras were recording, the group headed to their hotel several miles away from location. The drive was painfully quiet, even in Bou-san's car. Mai, not wanting to be left alone in a car with only men, wanted to sit beside Masako and Ayako on the way back. John offered to ride back with Naru and Lin.

-00000-

"Hara-san, tell us what you saw in the house," Naru began as he crossed his legs and leaned back into the sofa. They had just finished checking in their rooms and were now currently sitting together in the lounge at the hotel lobby where they could discuss freely amongst themselves. Beside Naru sat Lin with his computer, taking notes.

"When we did the initial walk-through in the early morning, there were definitely spirits in the house. They felt agitated as if they sensed there were many new people around. However when we got inside the house, it was quiet. There was, however, an overwhelming feeling of unease and dread permeating the house." She cast a quick glance at Mai. "It feels like the quiet before a storm. Perhaps they are waiting to see what we will do."

"Is it okay to leave our equipments there? Shouldn't we be watching the first night of our investigation in case these spirits do something?" Bou-san asked.

"I don't believe anything of note will happen tonight, so it's not necessary for us to be there. I agree with Hara-san-they are most likely just waiting and watching us curiously. If we perform a general cleansing of the house, it will perhaps taunt the hiding spirits into showing themselves and allow us to figure out what we're dealing with."

During the silence, Mai could definitely feel the others' curiousity regarding her dream, but respectfully kept quiet in fear of making her upset. That was, except Naru. He looked at her pointedly.

"Was the person in your vision murdered in the house?" he asked bluntly, making her grimace.

She looked down and answered quietly, "I... I don't know. She was hurt there, so possibly not murdered, but suicide."

Masako continued, "I didn't feel any spirits while I was there, so I think what Mai-san saw was a memory contained in that room, rather than a spirit reaching out to her. But it is very possible the woman in her vision might be one of the spirits inhabiting the house, given that her memories in that room stayed so strong. I suggest we perform a cleansing ritual in that location."

Naru nodded. "Tomorrow Yasuhara-san will research the history of the property and any noteable news relating to the place. Bou-san, Matsuzaki-san, John, the three of you will perform the cleansing. Hara-san, you will accompany them and see if any spirits stir from the ritual, while Lin and Mai stay at base and review the footage from tonight and keep an eye on the readings while the cleansing is being done."

"What about you?" Mai asked.

"I am meeting with Sugiyama-san and Hoshimi Yukina-san; she is our only lead as the other families have moved out of the town." Naru kept his gaze on her for a while and opened his mouth to say something, but figuring that he was most likely about to ask her more details about her dream, she quickly stood up.

"I'm going to get cleaned up first before dinner. These clothes have the stink of vomit! I'll see you guys later!"

The others watched over her retreating figure with worry on their faces.

-000-

Mai was only too glad to finally have a chance to bathe herself, to get rid of the nastiness she felt that clung to her body.

As soon as she entered her shared room with Masako, she rummaged through her luggage and ran to the bathroom. She stripped and sat down underneath the shower, head hung low, and rubbed the soap vigorously against her skin, particularly in the areas that the man touched during the vision. Despite her neck turning red and raw, she kept blankly rubbing it as tears silently rolled down her face. Once it was purified enough for her, she moved on to her breasts, then to her legs, and in between, scrubbing each part incessantly. The skin burned as she ran the warm water against her skin to wash away the soap, but she felt numb to it. She stood up from her stool and absentmindedly climbed in the tub, submerging her entire body up to her chin.

" _It was a dream. It was just a damn dream, Mai! Get a hold of yourself!_ " she mentally rebuked herself. " _It didn't happen to me. It happened to Chiriko-san..._ " As if only realizing this, she covered her face with her hands and sobbed even further, feeling disgusted at herself. " _Why have I been crying for myself when it wasn't even me? I should be feeling for Chiriko-san but all I can think about is how disgusting it made me feel."_

She dunked her whole head underwater and held her breath until she couldn't anymore. She exhaled every ounce of air she had, letting the water bubble up around her and finally, feeling renewed, resurfaced with new determination. "It was just a dream. I'm a professional. I can handle this. It wasn't me. It _wasn't_ me," she said out loud.

A soft knock came from the door. "Mai? Are you alright?"

"You have been in there for a while."

Mai smiled, truthfully this time, and answered out, "Sorry Masako, Ayako. Yes, I'm fine now. I'll be coming out soon."

When she got out of the bathroom, the two ladies eyed her with concern, but she reassured them that everything was alright. "Have you guys already finished dinner?"

Ayako huffed. "As if we would eat without you! No, but do hurry up. I'm starving."

Masako held a hand up to cover her mouth. "Shibuya-san and Lin-san have decided to take their dinner to their room, so you can be assured you won't be questioned further regarding that vision."

For her incredibly (and surprisingly) thoughtful comment, Mai smiled and nodded her head. "It's alright. I think I'm going to let Naru and Lin-san know the details of the dream. It might be helpful for us. But I don't think I can handle telling Yasuhara and the others... one step at a time."

Ayako nodded in agreement. "Only if you feel okay with it, Mai. Don't ever force yourself. Even with Naru and Lin-san; you don't have to tell them everything."

"Okay, I'll see how I feel and play it by ear. By the way, what are you doing in our room, Ayako? Aren't you supposed to be sharing a room with Bou-san?" Mai raised her brow as she saw the Miko's luggage at the foot of her bed.

"I thought you'd need me here so I was going to sleep here with you guys instead."

"No, really, I'm fine now, Ayako. Thank you for your concern..." Mai got really annoyed at herself for feeling like crying again but she successfully steeled her emotions. She couldn't help but be awed at Ayako's strong maternal instinct to comfort people in need.

Masako harrumphed and haughtily said, "There is no way you're making us sleep on the same bed, Matsuzaki-san, so just go back to your own room."

"Why you-I'm here for _Mai_ , little miss arrogant!"

"Then _you_ share a bed with her."

Ayako huffed. "I am not fat in any way, but I am definitely fuller than you both are so it doesn't make sense for me to share a bed with anyone!"

"That's why I said go back to your room with Takigawa-san and sleep in your own bed!"

"Fine! I'll just go back to my own room!"

Feeling more lighthearted now that she's had the time to reflect to herself, Mai laughed. "Now, now, stop fighting! It's alright! No one will be sharing these tiny beds and Ayako can go back and enjoy her time with Bou-san," she said with a smile. "Really, I'm fine so no worries. Now come on, Masako and I will help you carry your luggage back to your room then we can all come down to dinner."

* * *

 **A/N:** _Wow. Sorry for the long wait. I almost lost interest in this story after **Game, Set, and Match!** Shameless plug here. Please come on over and read that one as well! As always, thank you for reading. Please read and review when you get the chance._


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